British social media has erupted with calls for a right to bear arms in the United Kingdom following terror attacks in London and Manchester, with an increasing number of activists voicing anger and frustration over restrictive British gun laws, according to Vocativ.
Concerns are heightened one day after the Daily Mail reported that “ISIS has warned that the Manchester terror attack will be the first of many.” The newspaper said that “efforts to show defiance against jihadists have been a “complete failure.”
The British publication Gunsweek recently led its report on the situation with this: “All gun rights advocacy groups predicted it.”
Vocative quoted Dave Ewing, a representative from the gun ownership advocacy group, Firearms-UK, who observed, “These tragedies may have been the eye opener to just how ineffective our laws are.”
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The attack in London that left eight dead and nearly 50 other people injured has energized several groups including Arm UK Citizens, England Wants Its Guns Back and Legalise Guns in the UK, the report stated. Great Britain adopted restrictive gun laws several years ago. Thousands of Brits were required to turn in handguns in particular.
The London attack was the third in three months, Vocativ said. British citizens are on edge, but rights activists want the tools to fight back.
During WWII, when it appeared that there would be a German invasion of the British Isles, England appealed to the U.S. citizens to send guns and ammunition so British citizens could defend their shores. That bit of history was detailed in The American Rifleman more than two years ago.
There has already been massive political fallout over the attacks, with elections Thursday in England that left Prime Minister Theresa May fighting for her political life and several Tory members of Parliament voted out of office.
So far, there has been no sign that Parliament has any intention of loosening that nation’s gun regulations. There is no Second Amendment in the United Kingdom.
In the United States, where the right to keep and bear arms was enshrined in the Constitution after a bloody revolution that started with farmers and militia against the most powerful military in the world at that time, today an increasing number of citizens are arming up. Recent estimates go as high as 15 million-plus people who are legally licensed to carry a concealed sidearm, and there are more people carrying without permits in a dozen states.
Some British gun rights groups have Facebook pages, and more than a year ago, there was an online petition to Parliament to once again allow handgun ownership in the UK. But that effort failed.
It is not known if the recent terror attacks and threats of more violence will create an atmosphere in which a petition might be resurrected and gain more traction.
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